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Germany got their FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 campaign off to a solid start with a 3-2 win over Australia at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi in front of 28,605 fans.

Julian Brandt was bright throughout and it was his run and cutback that teed up Lars Stindl to open the scoring, with his first goal for Germany. Joachim Low's side were - momentarily - punished for not increasing their lead after concerted pressure, as Tom Rogic's shot squirmed underneath Bernd Leno to level matters.

Within five minutes, Leon Goretzka was brought down by Massimo Luongo in the Australian penalty area and captain Julian Draxler stepped up to slot the ball home, sending Maty Ryan the wrong way.

After the break, Joshua Kimmich's lovely dinked through ball teed up Goretzka to extend the German lead, before Leno spilled a deflected Rogic shot into the path of Tomi Juric, whose goal was validated by a VAR review. Substitute Timo Werner later hit the post as Germany controlled proceedings despite the slender lead.

FIFA.com team reporter analysis
"Australia promised to attack at every opportunity and they did just that whenever possible. What proved costly, however, was a complete lack of first-half possession which stymied such ambitions for virtually the entire opening period. They will also rue conceding goals in the opening minutes of each half. But they will nevertheless take significant confidence from an ultimately narrow defeat against the world champions into what promises to be a high-octane encounter against Cameroon."Pete Smith, Australia team reporter

"Before the tournament started, the German players spoke about how much they were enjoying the occasion, and this was visible on the pitch as well, especially in an impressive first half. They could and maybe should have scored more during that spell. Given the technical abilities of the players at Low's disposal, their neat passing was not a surprise. In an unfamiliar formation they did well until their first line of defence was breached, but after that things got more complicated and gaps developed."Steffen Potter, Germany team reporter

*Budweiser Man of the Match *The third-youngest German FIFA World Cup™ winner certainly has an old head on youthful shoulders, and *Julian Draxler *stepped up to the plate when his side needed him today. A calmly-converted penalty was emblematic of an authoritative performance by the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder.

The stat
13 is the unlucky shirt number for Australia whenever they face Germany in senior FIFA men's tournaments. Today's incumbent Stindl joins a long list of Germans to have donned the jersey and scored against the Socceroos. Gerd Muller netted against the Antipodeans in the 1974 FIFA World Cup, before Michael Ballack bagged a goal back in the 2005 Confederations Cup and Thomas Muller scored in the 2010 World Cup against the Aussies - all whilst wearing the No13.